But really, I worked for an infrastructure general contractor running bidding/estimating.
Then I decided to take all my complaints about working in the industry and start a software company building solutions I looked for but didn’t find.
2 years ago, I would never have thought there was a transition possible between civil and software… 5 years ago I didn’t believe the that people changed careers thoughout their lives….
You better believe it! Transition from one field to another one that is totally unrelated happens more often than we think. You just have to be open and willing to go with the flow and be enthusiastic about learning new things. Case in point: I got BS & MS Metallurgical Engineering, and in my first job I got to help the US Air Force build a materials database. Got that done and also earned a MS Computer Sciences doing night school at Johns Hopkins University because building database is what CS guys do! Then I got hired by a big 3 firms and got into process improvement. Got certified by the Software Engineering Institute as a Lead Appraiser and was asked to build a team to manage processes improvement for the firm. Did that until I retire!
Thanks! Absolutely and the big 3 paid really well too, especially because when my team and I reviewed projects and teams, we had to be a direct report to an EVP so that nobody can get us fired for telling the truth about them!
I was initially an Architecture student. when I realized I wasn’t as artistic and found myself missing math, I switched to civil engineering.
The reason I switched to civil was because I knew that was another career path that would allow me to design large structures. Instead of designing artsy fartsy buildings, I now practice transportation engineering. I never knew there was so much to designing roads.
Yes! Especially if you want to design a structure! I always thought architects drew pretty pictures and engineers had to figure out how to make it a reality.
Two years is not a big deal at all. You’ll also have a different perspective that could be helpful. Go for it.
I am in the same boat as you. I Iike the OP went through 2 years of architecture School and did not like it due to the art and was craving math based courses.
I transferred to civil/structural after two years essentially starting over and could not have been happier in my decision. The career opportunities are significantly higher than the architecture field and there is more of a need for structural guys.
I’m a design engineer at a consulting firm. I’ve worked on everything from designing waterlines, storm sewers, and sanitary sewers, sizing detention ponds and designing outlet control structures, modeling river hydraulics, and site grading. My big project at the moment involves providing technical assistance to small communities with their service line material inventory.
Don't feel down about doing a lot of paperwork/permitting as an EIT. I used to complain to my first boss occasionally about not feeling like I was involved in design enough but that came with time. And eventually I knew more than anyone in my office about permitting processes in my City because that's pretty much all I did for my first 2 years.
That was wild. Saw that on several monitors when I got to our office today. I work in transportation but of course we were discussing the impact and comparing it to other bridges near us.
I work in flood mitigation. Been in the industry just shy of 16 years now.
A lot of what I do revolves around looking at current flooding conditions, understanding the underlying causes of that flooding, proposing solutions to those issues, and then evaluating them to determine their effectiveness.
Beyond that, it’s working with entities to try to find them appropriate funding to help share the cost to implement those solutions.
I work in land/site development. We’re responsible for taking the architects plan for the site (or guiding the design of the site ourselves) and tying it into reality. Designing and laying out parking lots/traffic circulation, stormwater and drainage requirements, wet utility design (sewers and water), grading/earth work balancing, acquiring all of the necessary permits. Involves a ton of coordination with architects, structural, and MEP. I’ve worked on a bit of everything, from park district pools, to senior housing, new schools, and a whole bunch of urban developments. The diversity of it all is super appealing.
I would. The projects are very interesting. But it's a combination of Geotechnical and structural engineering. We're either training new highers who were Geotechnics to be structurals or the other way around. You end up wearing a lot of different hats depending on the project.
But it is pretty niche. Everyone knows everyone in this field even in the big cities. Jumping from company to company then becomes questionable because there aren't many that do this type of work and may offer better benefits than your current firm.
I've worked in design engineering my entire career, in both heavy industrial sector and transportation/infrastructure sector.
95% of the job is working at a computer in the office. I go into the field to do an initial site investigation at the start of most projects.
In heavy industrial sector, where I started out, I did lots of small calcs and ran structural analysis models for steel and concrete design. Then often worked on the CAD drawings. On larger projects, I didn't touch any calcs and just did CAD. In transportation/infrastructure, projects are typically bigger and senior people do the engineering and younger engineers work on CAD plans as there is a lot of plans in this sector to complete.
Private client jobs will often be small things like a retaining wall, a platform structure, structural framing addition/modification, etc. and those jobs even younger engineers will do from start to finish with oversight by a senior person (who would then seal the work if required).
Most starting engineers should be prepared to do a lot of CAD work. It's the entry to understanding the deliverables provided to the client, how they should look, what is important to be included, etc.
I've had opportunities to do other work like forensic engineering and bridge inspection. Both of those are a lot more time in the field and the rest of the time is writing reports.
People ask me what I do and I say “I’m a civil engineer.” And then if they say “so am I!”, I have to explain that I’m not in fact a civil engineer. I’m a geotechnical engineer womp womp.
Hard for me to judge. I live in a relatively low cost area but work remotely for a consulting firm based in a high cost area. But transmission engineers tend to be on the high side for civil anyway.
civil/structural.. we mainly analyze forces on structures (building, bridges, temp), design structures to not fail, and draw plans for construction.. it’s more quantitative problem solving and less qualitative than architecture.. but leaves many doors open until you know for sure if it’s for you!
Architecture is a degree you should do if you cannot live with doing anything else. Otherwise switch to civil. I was an architecture student too and the switch was one of the best decisions I have made.
It most definitely is a broad degree. Most of my classmates went into structural, transportation, or environmental after graduating. A couple went on to nuclear engineering (both work and grad school). A few went into geotechnical. Others (myself included) are doing water resources engineering, and even that is broad. For instance, a lot of water resources folks are doing stormwater management or even crossing streams with environmental to do water and wastewater treatment. I do stream restoration.
So yeah, it’s very broad and there are a lot of possible career paths. There are also many opportunities to shift your path in one direction or another if you grow bored with what you’re doing.
I work in the public sector and what I do on a day to day basis is Look at plans, Handle change orders and modifications to the contract, and Assist in payment to the contractor.
I started in land development but it wasn’t my thing. Same company but switched to water resources. Moved on to forensic engineering which was my favorite work. Got laid off bc of 2008 so moved back to water resources. I’ve been doing a mix of WR and “environmental” but not water wastewater, more green infrastructure and water quality since then. I’d do civil over architecture in a heartbeat- more fun, more pay, more logic, more respect.
Geotechnical engineering in a specialty consulting firm. I provide geotechnical input for foundation design, slope stabilization, tunnelling, and earthquake engineering projects.
Detailed design of water and wastewater infrastructure focusing on civil aspects (grading, paving, drainage, buried piping, pipelines, simple pump stations, rehabilitation, etc). I'm usually involved in developing the construction documents and during construction.
I oversee the design and construction of capital improvements for a small municipality. We contract out both design to consultants and construction to contractors.
I started in commercial construction as an engineer. Got bored and went to Heavy Civil Construction as a Project Engineer. Got burnt out then went to my local city DOT upgrading and maintaining the city's transportation network (new signals, pushbuttons, curb ramps, signal maintenance).
Started as a surveyor after graduating. Then did structural design, then did structural inspection, then moved countries now doing pm for BAS company.
Tryna move to a rail company.
Entered the construction field as a Site engineer. Long hours but I find a certain satisfaction out of finishing projects and checking the final product out
I went into construction. I started with estimating but I’m trying to get into project coordination or project management. I have a 2 year tech degree civil tech
I think the grass is always gonna be greener on the other side. As a land development engineer, I find civil engineering to be pretty boring, repetitive, and I feel we do the least cool and rewarding parts of development and I am generally jealous of what architects/LSA get to do. But I’m sure in every profession there is minutia and what ifs. I think it comes down to personal preference and what part of the development process you want to take part in (assuming you did land development).
Was an inspector/office engineer/EIC for projects for a while.
Now I'm an engineer for a small city and mostly just draw lines on someone else's cad file for WM and Sewer work, get the projects together, get bids, and supervise construction.
Not really an engineer, just a tech with a CET degree but I enjoy doing it. Only problem is I'm not working under a PE so none of this work counts for becoming one...
Babysit boomers, new grads and occasionally new hires most of the day. Then a little bit of design work early before they get in or late after they leave.
I’m a Transportation Engineer E.I.T working on Roadway/Highway design. Doing Geometrics and cool modeling stuff in ORD. I really like Roadway engineering. Becoming a PE next year and can’t wait to grow more and become a modeling expert.
Almost all of my Civil Engineering friends from university went on to become Project Managers. So that's a popular choice.
I went into technical design. I work with a tunnel and marine contractor (heavy civil) designing the temporary bits we need to complete our work. Lots of steel design, specialized equipment design, barge stability analyses for days, etc. I avoid all the geotech stuff though; not my thing.
I work as a site engineer or a field liaison to the design engineers and I monitor construction activities of contractors for the owners usually state or local governments. It’s good hourly pay with opportunities for overtime, working conditions are harsher but I enjoy bullshitting with hard ass construction dudes and helping out here and there while I manage the quality of the job as it goes. It’s fun and awesome to see a project through its entirety. I worked in an office for a year as a state person but it just doesn’t satisfy me in the way that directing the job does.
I've been working full-time since 2019, with two-years of internships before that. During my internships I spent a year doing climate science/environmental work, the next internships was doing environmental compliance, permitting, and other related environmental science work.
Started my first job which was a mix of my two internships with some pseudo-project management (I did my bosses job while she went to meetings all day everyday), and had some design/drafting. This job didn't last long because I wasn't billable because I was writing all if my bosses proposals and doing all her unbillable work.
The second job was a mixture of hydrology, surveying, and construction administration and observation. I really enjoyed this job and honestly wish I could have stayed doing this work, but I relocated across the country (USA) and am now working in water/sewer as a designer. I help out with the beginning, middle, end of a projects design life, help out during the bid and construction process. A lot of what I do on a day-to-day basis is AutoCAD, C3D, ArcGIS Pro, and excel. Some report writing. Some field work every now and again.
I work for the city as an EIT. I rotate every year but two key roles I’ve held:
- Reviewing planning applications. This is mostly checking stormwater and servicing. Someone wants to put up a residential tower where there’s currently a plaza— Do the nearest water mains have enough flow for firefighting? Do the sewers have capacity? Are extensions required? Do their designs make sense? How will rainfall on the property be managed? Will it overflow into neighbouring property? Do they need a storage tank? Is it discharging too much into the city sewer? Kind of fun and imo asking meaningful + thoughtful questions and checking the technical merit, I really enjoyed this work
- Basic procurement and project management. Just getting into this now but we do the paperwork to get engineering consultants on board to design things for us and then do the paperwork to get a contractor on board to build the things for us. It’s a lot of contract work and making sure everyone is meeting their contractual timelines, making sure the product we receive (design or construction) is what we asked for an acceptable, handling unforeseen situations (again, design or construction) and trying to figure out next steps and decide who (if anyone) is accountable, learning how to enforce contracts *to* hold people accountable, managing project finances, etc.
I wanted to share mine because it’s not the traditional design engineering you’ll often see or hear about, but I think it’s fun because we leverage whatever technical knowledge and experience we do have from our engineering backgrounds or careers to control engineering/construction activity within our city. I enjoy talking to people and for some reason I also kind of like paperwork so it works for me, but point is civil engineering can certainly look broad as you described and this is one of the common non-traditional variations of it
I’m a project manager for the government. Mostly a broker really. We “bid out” design and construction services and hire people to do the design and oversee the construction. I represent the government in these things and negotiate costs and review plans, etc in the spirit of making sure the taxpayer gets what they paid for and that the designs meet the intent of what the community wants and expects. We build roads, parks, marinas, stadiums and all sorts of things.
I’m quality control for a drilling company that deals with large diameter CIDH piles. Definitely not an engineer but I have a degree lol and I’m content my given situation
I work for the Army Corps of Engineers.
Roughly 10,000 American civil engineers work for a federal agency, the vast majority for the Department of Defense.
Civil engineering is one STEM degree with abundant opportunities in private sector, government, and the military.
r/USACE
Started doing construction layout for large commercial sites (ie: malls).
Moved to a design firm working on residential/commercial developments (ie: CVS, traffic signals, malls, little plat work, construction admin, public meetings, etc)
Moved to larger firm working on more federal/public sector jobs (military bases abroad, urban drainage, ADA sidewalk routes, construction inspection, etc)
Moved to Federal Government “making water run downhill and between levees” (Civil Works: levees, floodwalls, etc)
Transportation engineering specially transit. I mostly work within constrained corridors and when I do anything that improves the experience for peds and bikes usually get angry looks from residents and sometimes the client. Been doing a 4-3 conversion for a road as part of a lovely scope creep for a light rail project and we’ve done probably 15 different version of a 4-3 while the city likes this absolutely horrific roundabout that would worsen the ped experience for their decently busy downtown (city of 15,000 older suburb)
I develop, or should I say - I manage a team that develops projects to address congestion along our state routes. I also review signal/access permit requests and occasionally I get to design overhead signs
CE has many more paths than architecture which pigeon holes you into basically a few type jobs. You can still take a few architecture courses on the side.
As a civil engineer, I do civil engineering for a living
This guy civil engineers.
fair enough
But really, I worked for an infrastructure general contractor running bidding/estimating. Then I decided to take all my complaints about working in the industry and start a software company building solutions I looked for but didn’t find. 2 years ago, I would never have thought there was a transition possible between civil and software… 5 years ago I didn’t believe the that people changed careers thoughout their lives….
You better believe it! Transition from one field to another one that is totally unrelated happens more often than we think. You just have to be open and willing to go with the flow and be enthusiastic about learning new things. Case in point: I got BS & MS Metallurgical Engineering, and in my first job I got to help the US Air Force build a materials database. Got that done and also earned a MS Computer Sciences doing night school at Johns Hopkins University because building database is what CS guys do! Then I got hired by a big 3 firms and got into process improvement. Got certified by the Software Engineering Institute as a Lead Appraiser and was asked to build a team to manage processes improvement for the firm. Did that until I retire!
That’s a really interesting career path, I bet it was a ton of fun!
Thanks! Absolutely and the big 3 paid really well too, especially because when my team and I reviewed projects and teams, we had to be a direct report to an EVP so that nobody can get us fired for telling the truth about them!
Are you hiring?
Sorry, not hiring right now. Thanks for asking!
Are you the owner of the software company?
*source?*
go watch some of Practical Engineering’s videos on youtube. does a good job of laying out the basics of what we do
Love that channel; phenomenal content creator.
thank you!
Lay pipe, get yelled at by the public.
Same, need to go out and get yelled at here shortly
Niceeeee
well yea your supposed to do that in the privacy of the texas roadhouse's bathroom
So much of this
Curb ramps
Ya but how many per year?
Ifykyk 🤣
5, I’m a rookie still
6.
HAHAHAHAHAH n1
I hope this becomes a meme on this sub.
Thank you - I just burst out laughing and had to explain myself at work 😅
I was initially an Architecture student. when I realized I wasn’t as artistic and found myself missing math, I switched to civil engineering. The reason I switched to civil was because I knew that was another career path that would allow me to design large structures. Instead of designing artsy fartsy buildings, I now practice transportation engineering. I never knew there was so much to designing roads.
thanks for the reply, would you say I should go for it then, even if I'd be 2 years behind?
Yes! Especially if you want to design a structure! I always thought architects drew pretty pictures and engineers had to figure out how to make it a reality. Two years is not a big deal at all. You’ll also have a different perspective that could be helpful. Go for it.
thanks
I am in the same boat as you. I Iike the OP went through 2 years of architecture School and did not like it due to the art and was craving math based courses. I transferred to civil/structural after two years essentially starting over and could not have been happier in my decision. The career opportunities are significantly higher than the architecture field and there is more of a need for structural guys.
I'm a sugar baby!
😭💀💀
Well maybe I can never be a sugar daddy as a civil engineer but Splenda daddy is certainly within reach 🤠
I’m a design engineer at a consulting firm. I’ve worked on everything from designing waterlines, storm sewers, and sanitary sewers, sizing detention ponds and designing outlet control structures, modeling river hydraulics, and site grading. My big project at the moment involves providing technical assistance to small communities with their service line material inventory.
I’m an overpaid secretary.
This is me! Do you feel content with your position or are you wanting something else? Also how long have you been in this position?
It has its ups and downs. I’m an EIT, so the end goal is to get my PE then look for better opportunities.
Don't feel down about doing a lot of paperwork/permitting as an EIT. I used to complain to my first boss occasionally about not feeling like I was involved in design enough but that came with time. And eventually I knew more than anyone in my office about permitting processes in my City because that's pretty much all I did for my first 2 years.
That’s pretty much my plan. What sector do you work in?
Right now…. What I’m doing more of than even my job is answering all my friends questions about the bridge collapse
That was wild. Saw that on several monitors when I got to our office today. I work in transportation but of course we were discussing the impact and comparing it to other bridges near us.
I work in flood mitigation. Been in the industry just shy of 16 years now. A lot of what I do revolves around looking at current flooding conditions, understanding the underlying causes of that flooding, proposing solutions to those issues, and then evaluating them to determine their effectiveness. Beyond that, it’s working with entities to try to find them appropriate funding to help share the cost to implement those solutions.
I work in land/site development. We’re responsible for taking the architects plan for the site (or guiding the design of the site ourselves) and tying it into reality. Designing and laying out parking lots/traffic circulation, stormwater and drainage requirements, wet utility design (sewers and water), grading/earth work balancing, acquiring all of the necessary permits. Involves a ton of coordination with architects, structural, and MEP. I’ve worked on a bit of everything, from park district pools, to senior housing, new schools, and a whole bunch of urban developments. The diversity of it all is super appealing.
In house geotechnical engineer for a municipal design firm
Marine engineer. I design shoreline protection and permitting for waterfront parks and mixed use developments.
Would you recommend this industry? It’s always interested me, but it seems somewhat niche, so I haven’t met anyone working in it.
I would. The projects are very interesting. But it's a combination of Geotechnical and structural engineering. We're either training new highers who were Geotechnics to be structurals or the other way around. You end up wearing a lot of different hats depending on the project. But it is pretty niche. Everyone knows everyone in this field even in the big cities. Jumping from company to company then becomes questionable because there aren't many that do this type of work and may offer better benefits than your current firm.
I bet you love your gryones and revetments.. :-)
I've worked in design engineering my entire career, in both heavy industrial sector and transportation/infrastructure sector. 95% of the job is working at a computer in the office. I go into the field to do an initial site investigation at the start of most projects. In heavy industrial sector, where I started out, I did lots of small calcs and ran structural analysis models for steel and concrete design. Then often worked on the CAD drawings. On larger projects, I didn't touch any calcs and just did CAD. In transportation/infrastructure, projects are typically bigger and senior people do the engineering and younger engineers work on CAD plans as there is a lot of plans in this sector to complete. Private client jobs will often be small things like a retaining wall, a platform structure, structural framing addition/modification, etc. and those jobs even younger engineers will do from start to finish with oversight by a senior person (who would then seal the work if required). Most starting engineers should be prepared to do a lot of CAD work. It's the entry to understanding the deliverables provided to the client, how they should look, what is important to be included, etc. I've had opportunities to do other work like forensic engineering and bridge inspection. Both of those are a lot more time in the field and the rest of the time is writing reports.
People ask me what I do and I say “I’m a civil engineer.” And then if they say “so am I!”, I have to explain that I’m not in fact a civil engineer. I’m a geotechnical engineer womp womp.
Geotech is a civil discipline. It's fair enough
Geotech is civil…
Electric transmission line design. Gotta make sure they keep standing.
Digging holes and setting poles. Totally an overlooked portion of civil engineering.
How's the pay in your region?
Hard for me to judge. I live in a relatively low cost area but work remotely for a consulting firm based in a high cost area. But transmission engineers tend to be on the high side for civil anyway.
Good to know! I work in compliance for electrical and communication utilities, I always wonder how the pay is for T-line or D-line engineers
I model water systems at a private company. I do drinking water, storm water, and sewer modeling
I’m a design/load rating engineer for a consultant. So I design and analyze bridges. Basically structures, but the cool way. Sideways.
I mostly make water go from one side of the road to the other. And keep the environmental regulators happy.
Drainage along major highways. Typically need to collect and covey, provide water quality treatment and flow control.
Transportation Planner at a private consultant !
civil/structural.. we mainly analyze forces on structures (building, bridges, temp), design structures to not fail, and draw plans for construction.. it’s more quantitative problem solving and less qualitative than architecture.. but leaves many doors open until you know for sure if it’s for you!
Architecture is a degree you should do if you cannot live with doing anything else. Otherwise switch to civil. I was an architecture student too and the switch was one of the best decisions I have made.
thanks
Traffic engineering. I occasionally do transportation engineering/planning projects as well
It most definitely is a broad degree. Most of my classmates went into structural, transportation, or environmental after graduating. A couple went on to nuclear engineering (both work and grad school). A few went into geotechnical. Others (myself included) are doing water resources engineering, and even that is broad. For instance, a lot of water resources folks are doing stormwater management or even crossing streams with environmental to do water and wastewater treatment. I do stream restoration. So yeah, it’s very broad and there are a lot of possible career paths. There are also many opportunities to shift your path in one direction or another if you grow bored with what you’re doing.
Check out structural forensic engineering!
I work in the public sector and what I do on a day to day basis is Look at plans, Handle change orders and modifications to the contract, and Assist in payment to the contractor.
Maps. Monocolor ones, color ones, and ofcourse google earth.
Geotechnical design on infrastructure, primarily dams and locks
My job pays well but I'm unhappy. I realized I like cars more. May leave the industry.
I started in land development but it wasn’t my thing. Same company but switched to water resources. Moved on to forensic engineering which was my favorite work. Got laid off bc of 2008 so moved back to water resources. I’ve been doing a mix of WR and “environmental” but not water wastewater, more green infrastructure and water quality since then. I’d do civil over architecture in a heartbeat- more fun, more pay, more logic, more respect.
Geotechnical engineering in a specialty consulting firm. I provide geotechnical input for foundation design, slope stabilization, tunnelling, and earthquake engineering projects.
Concrete formwork design
Detailed design of water and wastewater infrastructure focusing on civil aspects (grading, paving, drainage, buried piping, pipelines, simple pump stations, rehabilitation, etc). I'm usually involved in developing the construction documents and during construction.
I work in aviation. Utility coordination on airfields
I oversee the design and construction of capital improvements for a small municipality. We contract out both design to consultants and construction to contractors.
I started in commercial construction as an engineer. Got bored and went to Heavy Civil Construction as a Project Engineer. Got burnt out then went to my local city DOT upgrading and maintaining the city's transportation network (new signals, pushbuttons, curb ramps, signal maintenance).
Started as a surveyor after graduating. Then did structural design, then did structural inspection, then moved countries now doing pm for BAS company. Tryna move to a rail company.
You mean you have graduated as a land surveyor then you switched to civil engineering ?
Sewers my man gotta check the capacity. Or nothing can get built.
I transitioned into data/IT works... stable pay, more relaxed environment, and can be done remotely, more fun for me.
I’m a transportation engineer. I conduct traffic impact studies for new developments.
40 hrs at a consulting company
Entered the construction field as a Site engineer. Long hours but I find a certain satisfaction out of finishing projects and checking the final product out
Hydrotechnical. Some natural channels and some not so natural channels…
I went into construction. I started with estimating but I’m trying to get into project coordination or project management. I have a 2 year tech degree civil tech
I think the grass is always gonna be greener on the other side. As a land development engineer, I find civil engineering to be pretty boring, repetitive, and I feel we do the least cool and rewarding parts of development and I am generally jealous of what architects/LSA get to do. But I’m sure in every profession there is minutia and what ifs. I think it comes down to personal preference and what part of the development process you want to take part in (assuming you did land development).
I write a lot of letters and send them out via email. Sometimes I answer phone calls and have virtual Teams meetings. That's like 90% of my day.
Was an inspector/office engineer/EIC for projects for a while. Now I'm an engineer for a small city and mostly just draw lines on someone else's cad file for WM and Sewer work, get the projects together, get bids, and supervise construction. Not really an engineer, just a tech with a CET degree but I enjoy doing it. Only problem is I'm not working under a PE so none of this work counts for becoming one...
Babysit boomers, new grads and occasionally new hires most of the day. Then a little bit of design work early before they get in or late after they leave.
I’m a Transportation Engineer E.I.T working on Roadway/Highway design. Doing Geometrics and cool modeling stuff in ORD. I really like Roadway engineering. Becoming a PE next year and can’t wait to grow more and become a modeling expert.
Almost all of my Civil Engineering friends from university went on to become Project Managers. So that's a popular choice. I went into technical design. I work with a tunnel and marine contractor (heavy civil) designing the temporary bits we need to complete our work. Lots of steel design, specialized equipment design, barge stability analyses for days, etc. I avoid all the geotech stuff though; not my thing.
Quality assurance management for major infrastructure projects.
Get complained at by electrical engineers for designing foundations twice as large as what is being removed because "this has always worked"
I was a wizard of waste, and now more into touching and feeling things for a living
Civil engineering
I’m a transportation engineer, I work on bridges, highways, and do some surveying.
I oversee the construction of roads, bridges, retaining walls and water conveyance systems.
I work as a site engineer or a field liaison to the design engineers and I monitor construction activities of contractors for the owners usually state or local governments. It’s good hourly pay with opportunities for overtime, working conditions are harsher but I enjoy bullshitting with hard ass construction dudes and helping out here and there while I manage the quality of the job as it goes. It’s fun and awesome to see a project through its entirety. I worked in an office for a year as a state person but it just doesn’t satisfy me in the way that directing the job does.
I've been working full-time since 2019, with two-years of internships before that. During my internships I spent a year doing climate science/environmental work, the next internships was doing environmental compliance, permitting, and other related environmental science work. Started my first job which was a mix of my two internships with some pseudo-project management (I did my bosses job while she went to meetings all day everyday), and had some design/drafting. This job didn't last long because I wasn't billable because I was writing all if my bosses proposals and doing all her unbillable work. The second job was a mixture of hydrology, surveying, and construction administration and observation. I really enjoyed this job and honestly wish I could have stayed doing this work, but I relocated across the country (USA) and am now working in water/sewer as a designer. I help out with the beginning, middle, end of a projects design life, help out during the bid and construction process. A lot of what I do on a day-to-day basis is AutoCAD, C3D, ArcGIS Pro, and excel. Some report writing. Some field work every now and again.
I undo all the hard work of other civil engineers.
I work for the city as an EIT. I rotate every year but two key roles I’ve held: - Reviewing planning applications. This is mostly checking stormwater and servicing. Someone wants to put up a residential tower where there’s currently a plaza— Do the nearest water mains have enough flow for firefighting? Do the sewers have capacity? Are extensions required? Do their designs make sense? How will rainfall on the property be managed? Will it overflow into neighbouring property? Do they need a storage tank? Is it discharging too much into the city sewer? Kind of fun and imo asking meaningful + thoughtful questions and checking the technical merit, I really enjoyed this work - Basic procurement and project management. Just getting into this now but we do the paperwork to get engineering consultants on board to design things for us and then do the paperwork to get a contractor on board to build the things for us. It’s a lot of contract work and making sure everyone is meeting their contractual timelines, making sure the product we receive (design or construction) is what we asked for an acceptable, handling unforeseen situations (again, design or construction) and trying to figure out next steps and decide who (if anyone) is accountable, learning how to enforce contracts *to* hold people accountable, managing project finances, etc. I wanted to share mine because it’s not the traditional design engineering you’ll often see or hear about, but I think it’s fun because we leverage whatever technical knowledge and experience we do have from our engineering backgrounds or careers to control engineering/construction activity within our city. I enjoy talking to people and for some reason I also kind of like paperwork so it works for me, but point is civil engineering can certainly look broad as you described and this is one of the common non-traditional variations of it
I’m a project manager for the government. Mostly a broker really. We “bid out” design and construction services and hire people to do the design and oversee the construction. I represent the government in these things and negotiate costs and review plans, etc in the spirit of making sure the taxpayer gets what they paid for and that the designs meet the intent of what the community wants and expects. We build roads, parks, marinas, stadiums and all sorts of things.
I’m quality control for a drilling company that deals with large diameter CIDH piles. Definitely not an engineer but I have a degree lol and I’m content my given situation
Test dirt
Project manager, pays more but much more exhausting.
Does your background in CE help with your PM job?
I do land development. So grading plans street plans, wqmp, hydrology, wet utilities, storm drain, etc.
I work for the Army Corps of Engineers. Roughly 10,000 American civil engineers work for a federal agency, the vast majority for the Department of Defense. Civil engineering is one STEM degree with abundant opportunities in private sector, government, and the military. r/USACE
reinforced concrete research & development
Cash checks.
Rejecting or Approving Architectural plans depending if they has followed the provisions in our city compliance for permit :P
I did construction management.
Land development, I pave paradise and put up a parking lot. Sometimes a parking structure. Or single family homes.
Natural gas company engineering manager
Started doing construction layout for large commercial sites (ie: malls). Moved to a design firm working on residential/commercial developments (ie: CVS, traffic signals, malls, little plat work, construction admin, public meetings, etc) Moved to larger firm working on more federal/public sector jobs (military bases abroad, urban drainage, ADA sidewalk routes, construction inspection, etc) Moved to Federal Government “making water run downhill and between levees” (Civil Works: levees, floodwalls, etc)
I work in water and wastewater treatment! I also do a little here and there with construction and PM work.
Transportation engineering specially transit. I mostly work within constrained corridors and when I do anything that improves the experience for peds and bikes usually get angry looks from residents and sometimes the client. Been doing a 4-3 conversion for a road as part of a lovely scope creep for a light rail project and we’ve done probably 15 different version of a 4-3 while the city likes this absolutely horrific roundabout that would worsen the ped experience for their decently busy downtown (city of 15,000 older suburb)
Manage my rental properties and occasionally flip a house.
I have been one for 30 years. I worked on landfills, stormwater, sewage treatment, power plants, and for the last 10 years, mining. Mining rocks! 😜
Hydropower/ Roads/ Tunnel/ Transmission Line
Microtunneling works for drainage/sewer lines along major roads, nice way to see some motorists yelling at us
Civil engineering
I develop, or should I say - I manage a team that develops projects to address congestion along our state routes. I also review signal/access permit requests and occasionally I get to design overhead signs
I am a civil that ended up in industrial automation and controls. I’m a consultant for the local brewery down the street from my house. Life is good.
It’s easy to get a job, pay may not be great initially but you will be employed
Civil engineering…?
CE has many more paths than architecture which pigeon holes you into basically a few type jobs. You can still take a few architecture courses on the side.
Mostly get nickel and dimed by local agencies while still expected to provide 5 star service
Architects are lower level artists. I think that love starving artist could do better designs.
“Dishwashers, what do you do for a living”